"That guy in France"

Former Eagles owner Norman Braman _ once derided by Buddy Ryan as "that guy in France" because Braman frequently vacationed there _ is voicing opposition to a planned stadium for the Florida Marlins.

Braman, long a resident of South Florida, has gone so far as to sue Miami-Dade over the planned stadium. He told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that he merely wants elected officials to hold public meetings, and that the people then be allowed to vote. And he's fine with the result, whatever it may be. But he wants accepted channels to be followed.

"When you sit around and see what's going on under your nose," Braman told the Sun-Sentinel, "the same stories of corruption, same stories of bad government -- the constant cost overruns at the (Miami) airport, corruption at the port, $200-million-plus overruns involving the performing arts center -- and then they push through a stadium that's obviously cooked ahead of time with no public notice, it was enough.

"Somebody has to stand up and do something. Stop this kind of government. Stop with the idea the taxpayer will do nothing. I went home to my wife the day I heard of this stadium deal and said, 'I'm going to fight this.'

"I couldn't sit and tolerate what was going on here. Every day it's something else."